Monday, October 10, 2011

I don't plan to retire

It
might have been a coincidence – perhaps not – but I was asked a question this
past week as I was reading chapter 6 of Mindfulness
by Ellen Langer, entitled “Mindful Aging.” And the question, by a friend, was
this: “Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you retire?”

I’m
of an age when that question is not unusual. At work, there are two of us about
the same age, and then there’s a gap of some years, and then one person 10
years younger and then several 20 years younger. And then all those
20-somethings, many of whom I helped to hire.

My
answer to the question: “I don’t plan to retire.”

Now
there may come a time when I “retire” from where I officially work. But I don't plan
to “retire.” I see it simply as a new phase of what I’ll be doing in life,
assuming health and physical condition cooperate.

Retirement,
for me, won’t be about the pursuit of “leisure.” I can’t imagine myself living
from golf game to golf game (I don’t play golf), nor can I imagine myself in
some retirement community in Arizona, going shirtless to the grocery store.

But
it will be about the pursuit of something, but not leisure.

And
it won’t be about surrounding myself with grandchildren. (Note that I use the
plural; Cameron is going to become a brother next May.) I dearly love my
grandson and grandchild to come, but they won’t be around me all the time. And
that’s as it should be. They, and their parents, have their own lives to live. I
can love and influence and be there when needed – but I can’t dominate and I can’t
direct.

I
do know some of what I’ll be doing.

I
have a desire to get more involved in missions, a desire that’s been quietly
growing since I did a short-term missions trip in 2002 to Eastern Europe. The
desire is not to become a missionary in a foreign land, but simply to become
more involved. That’s all I understand for now.

And
I will be writing. Writing has been a part of my life since I was about 9, and
it always will be, as long as I can hold a pen, press a letter on a computer
keyboard, or speak into a microphone or video camera.

Most
of my writing has been in corporate communications – speeches, articles,
papers, news releases, reports, and now tweets and Facebook posts. But that has
been changing, and it will continue to change.

A
novel manuscript I’ve been working on for five years has caught the interest of
a small, new publisher. It’s now been edited by an extraordinarily gifted editor
and published author. The draft contract in sitting in my email box, and it
seems fair and reasonable (although I’m asking my attorney to look it over).
Given how fast this can happen today, it may be published by the end of this
year.

It’s
not serious or literary fiction. It’s a story, one that had been bottled up
inside me for three years before I wrote the first word. It started on a
airline flight to San Francisco, when I was listening to one of those music
channels and heard a song called “Luna Rosa” (sung in Italian). The song evoked
an image in my mind – a priest dancing on a beach at sunset. It was an image
that wouldn’t let go. The beach is gone, and so is the sunset but the image of
the dancing priest remains and lies at the center of the manuscript.

What
I’ve learned is that publishing this manuscript, while gratifying and exciting,
is not the point. The writing, the telling of the story, is the point.

So,
no, I don’t intend to retire. I intend to “mindfully age,” as Langer describes
in her book.

Love this discussion. Before RA recently "benched" me for a season, once a week I helped a disabled elderly friend get a shower and with a few simple chores around her house. During that time, for four years she's been telling me wonderful stories of growing up as an army brat and then raising a family of six children. I've been trying to convince her to write them down. Finally, her children gave her a laptop for her birthday and she is now putting all those stories down on paper. I'm so proud of her.

This post really zinged me. i am a pastor with no retirement (a small 403b at this point) so I am unable to retire. I have this saying I tell people, "I want to die with my boots on." I don't play golf. I have no desire to lay around playing checkers or shuffleboard. I do hope that I am still cycling (albeit slower probably). I want to still preach or work in a church mentoring young men. Retire? Nope.

So much here, Glynn! First, congrats on the new grandchild on the way! Cameron is going to be such a great big brother. And I can't wait to read you Luna Rosa. The part you put up here a while back made me want more. So excited for you in this endeavor!

You inspire me the way Helen does. I want to keep growing until the very end.

Glynn, thinking about my retirement made me realize that I wasn't happy with my job. So I decided to change my life and do now what I was waiting retirement for.As a Christian, I think of retirement as more time to do God's will. I don't dream of living by a beach and collecting shelves, if you know what I mean...

i have this picture in my mind that won't leave. i guess i should write a novel about a writer in arizona that is always going shirtless to the grocery store. the people at the store like his stories so much that they keep a shirt handy so that he can come in a shop for more pens, paper and an apple or two.

Just the other day, I wondered if you had a book in the hopper. I'm so glad. I will consider temporary efforts to re-tread... but I will never retire. I have already been there... worked as an activity director in a retirement center. The thing is, our generation has this HUGE advantage with having learned technology that will ultimately keep us connected, mentally stimulated, and busy regardless of any physical limitations that come our way... God willing I keep my mind, of course.

A Light Shining

Dancing Priest

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Professional writer exploring faith and culture, life and work; happily married to Janet, the love of my life; father of two grown sons. Award-winning speechwriter and communication consultant. I am also a contributing editor for The High Calling and for TweetSpeak Poetry. I am also the author of the novels "Dancing Priest" and "A Light Shining," and the non-fiction book "Poetry at Work."